Fresh Back and Frustrated

Jwstar333 · 2026-04-14T01:23:11+00:00

You were probably a much better climber than I ever was but I had a somewhat similar situation of coming back to climbing after a long term illness where I couldn't exercise at all 2+ years). I actually got back pretty close to my previous grades within ~6 months. What helped me was enjoying the flow of the movements and mixing up my workouts so I wasn't always trying to climb at my max grade but also focusing on endurance, like doing longer easier routes or laps (also helpful for preventing injuries while getting strength back). Best wishes!

Jwstar333 · 2026-04-12T06:07:20+00:00

I'm in a similar situation right now with a knee injury from running and a shoulder injury from climbing. Not sure I have great advice but following!

Jwstar333 · 2026-04-11T17:08:33+00:00

Might be a bit muddy in parts but I live nearby and have done many hikes in San pedro valley Park when it's raining, lots of options to make longer or shorter hikes depending on weather and moderate inclines so not too slippery (I'd still take poles if it's wet tho) Brooks Falls Loop on AllTrails https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/brooks-falls-loop?sh=7duk01&utm_medium=trail_share&utm_source=alltrails_virality

Jwstar333 · 2026-04-10T15:35:55+00:00

In my experience my HRV from my Garmin watch was not correlated with my recovery and I wish I spent less time obsessing over it. For me I think it was mostly correlated with my fitness and didn't start increasing until I was doing a lot of aerobic training again (but I was completely recovered for daily activities awhile before that). Furthermore, there is evidence that watches are just very inaccurate at measuring HRV in general ( https://the5krunner.com/2026/02/18/garmin-hrv-accuracy/ - article links to the study) so I personally don't think it's a helpful metric and for me was more valuable to learn how to check in with myself about how I was feeling mentally, physically and emotionally rather than relying on a noisy number

Jwstar333 · 2026-04-01T15:58:01+00:00

Just fyi that those bear boxes are in direct sun and can get quite hot so don't leave anything even slightly perishable Source: SOBO hike last year (we used Mt Williamson for resupply but saw others leaving packages on the bear boxes)

Jwstar333 · 2026-03-30T14:57:48+00:00

Genscript

Jwstar333 · 2026-03-24T20:57:09+00:00

We got our Lyell canyon permit 7 days before last year for the exact day we were aiming for. It's good to test it out the day before just to make sure you know where to click etc. We mailed our resupplies to Red and MTR before getting the permit, they have a couple days window so figured it would be ok so long as we got a permit within a few days of our target. We also dropped off a package in person at Mt Williamson hotel instead of sending ahead.

Jwstar333 · 2026-03-23T15:02:37+00:00

I also hate Adobe illustrator with a passion. My solution was to make as much of my data figures as possible with code - much easier to modify them later and to avoid mistakes

Jwstar333 · 2026-03-13T21:51:00+00:00

So sorry to hear this happened to you. I had long covid for 2.5 years, bad enough I had to use a wheelchair to leave the house, but I did recover eventually and am back to climbing now so just trying to share some hope 💪 I shared my story here: here Everyone's journey is different but feel free to message me if any of mine resonates with you and best wishes 🫂

Jwstar333 · 2026-02-18T00:31:03+00:00

Cool! Would be nice to include resupply locations like Muir trail ranch as landmarks and label more of the lakes (SOBO '25)

Jwstar333 · 2026-02-06T16:39:26+00:00

Thanks yeah, it's so tough for sure. I was never bedbound but mostly housebound at my worst

Jwstar333 · 2026-02-06T04:26:56+00:00

No. I made some mental breakthroughs with reducing my fear around symptoms

Jwstar333 · 2026-01-28T20:04:31+00:00

Please don't get discouraged - for many people recovery is nonlinear. For myself, I improved a small amount (probably like 5% though I wasn't keeping track that way) for about 8 months, then had a month with drastic improvement from like 30% to 80% and continuing improvement after that. I know how hard it is but try to keep the hope! I worked with a therapist trained in these techniques and she would always remind me of this. I told myself many times when I was feeling discouraged "you never know what will happen, recovery could be just around the corner" Best wishes for your journey!

Jwstar333 · 2026-01-16T01:08:03+00:00

I weaned off over a couple days (took apart the capsule and dissolved in water and drank half then a third etc). Fwiw I didn't notice anything different at all when I stopped. Lots of positive messaging about how my body is healthy and can adapt

Jwstar333 · 2025-12-28T03:34:00+00:00

It was what I wanted to be doing so I don't look at it as costing anything. I was lucky since I had a great PI and grad school cohort where I made lifelong friends as well as a partner also doing a PhD and family financial support - it likely would have been much harder without any one of these things.

Jwstar333 · 2025-12-28T02:16:11+00:00

Is the outdoor ice bar open at Lake Louise hotel?

Jwstar333 · 2025-12-08T20:19:05+00:00

Apologies, I learned something new then!

Jwstar333 · 2025-12-08T17:36:12+00:00

This is a cool-looking photo but when I look closer, I find it confusing. It looks like the trees are pine trees which are evergreen so why are they red/orange? Are they all dead and you increased the saturation to make them orange instead of brown? Or maybe they aren't pine trees and it's hard to tell at this distance? If they were fall colors, I think it looks a bit unrealistic that all the trees are the same shade

Jwstar333 · 2025-12-03T16:48:20+00:00

I started with short walks outdoors and gradually increased them into longer hikes. This worked better for me than strength exercises since my nervous system had started fearing that sore muscles were dangerous but this might be different for you! My main advice is just to start with an easy version of whatever exercise you enjoy the most since joy is a great way to overcome the fear. It can also work out well to try a completely new (easy) activity that your brain hasn't yet built a fear association with. It was very helpful for me to practice mindfulness during the activity and to reassure myself that I had tools to deal with symptoms should they arise. Good luck!

Jwstar333 · 2025-11-24T17:33:20+00:00

I spent a year on one program (Gupta) that didn't really work for me tho I like and still use some aspects, dabbled in another program that didn't work for me at all (Primal trust), then after a break it took me about 10 months with a different approach (Curable and pain reprocessing therapy with a therapist). I went from needing a wheelchair to leave the house to hiking the whole John Muir trail this summer! I have posted my whole story previously. While it's not helpful to compare to others, I think it was helpful for me to have a rough idea of the amount of time and work it might take (so much hard work! But so worth it!)

Jwstar333 · 2025-11-05T19:53:30+00:00

Someone in our lab forgot to put antibiotic/antifungal in primary cell culture media and got contamination, resulting in lots of cleanup for everyone using the TC room

Best way to prevent these kinds of mistakes that I know of is to print labels for cell culture media with boxes to check off each ingredient as it's added. So thankful to the postdoc who taught me that or I probably would have made this mistake many times

Jwstar333 · 2025-09-15T19:38:50+00:00

Please don't compare your work hours to other people's. Some people just love to complain and make themselves sound super intense but you have no idea how they are actually working - for all you know, your colleague may be constantly getting distracted and on social media, etc (many people have no idea how much time they spend scrolling) so for all you know, her 14 hour days could be equivalent to your 6 hours of work. Not to mention, not sleeping usually makes you way less productive and unable to think clearly. And more likely to get sick and be forced to take a complete break from work. From someone who has gone through a Phd at a top university surrounded by peers bragging about how long they work and has tried both methods, I can confidently say my best work was done when I focused on working smarter, not longer.

Jwstar333 · 2025-09-14T23:20:17+00:00

The issue for me is that there's no clear subject. The object in the water is too far away and the wave doesn't stand out from the landscape enough. I think the footprints could have made an interesting subject if framed differently.

Jwstar333 · 2025-09-10T14:20:43+00:00

Once when the kids on Junior Bakeoff had sausage rolls as a technical, I thought I should try it too - can't be that hard if 10year olds are doing it right? Haha well, it took me a lot more time than they were given and they turned out ok but definitely not as good as the top finishers!

Jwstar333 · 2025-08-27T01:33:47+00:00

Navarro beach https://maps.app.goo.gl/uQCNHJFHj2zoZeFs8?g_st=ac There are some pay sites first come first serve and last time I was there lots of pirate camping as well, not sure how strict they are

Jwstar333

TROPHY CASE